"Militant" atheism

Militant, but definitely not an atheist.

It seems that every so often theists throw out the accusation that certain atheists, myself included, are "militant". In fact, that term seems to have become quite widespread. This topic has happened to come to my attention quite a bit of late, most recently due to Dylan's blog post on the topic (click here to read a translation if you don't understand Welsh).

As Dylan says (translated):

In all other cases, you have to do something very serious to be labelled as "militant". "Militant" Muslims do things like putting on a belt full of C4 before walking into a cafe in Tel Aviv to kill as many Jews as possible. Some "militant" Christians murder doctors who perform abortions. For an atheist to be rewarded with the "militant" label, however, it seems that all he or she has to do is write a few words to the effect that religion isn't necessarily all good.

When a Christian pastor states from the pulpit that those who don't follow Jesus will go to hell, is he being militant? No - he's simply making a statement that is in accord with what he believes. When he says that atheists are lost souls without hope or direction, is he being militant? No. Again, he's just publicly stating what he believes. I believe he's utterly wrong, but he's far from militant. If the same pastor were to encourage his congregation to intimidate non-Christians with violence or kill atheists, then he would be worthy of the title "militant". Otherwise he's anything but. Offensive, yes; odious, perhaps. Militant? Definitely not.

What about a Muslim who believes that those who don't accept that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet have gone astray and earn the wrath of Allah? Is he or she being militant? Not at all. It's just a statement of belief. If that person goes a step further and decides to become the instrument of Allah's wrath by blowing up a bus full of Israeli schoolkids or flying a plane into a skyscraper, then he or she is being militant.

And yet, religious people still refer to me and people like me as militant atheists. What have we done to earn that label? Speaking for myself, I blog about atheism in a pretty no-nonsense fashion. I say things as I see them and call a spade a spade. I post lots of atheism-related material on Facebook. Why? Because it's a topic about which I feel strongly, and one that interests me. Does that make me militant? I think not.

I'd love to see religion go away. I'd even go so far as to call myself an anti-theist. However, I also have a strong belief in freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. Does that make me militant? I think not.

It seems to me that what people regard as militant is the way I attack religious beliefs. However, the fact is that I draw a very strong distinction between religious beliefs and religious believers. I treat the two differently. I don't think that religious beliefs deserve any automatic reverence or respect, and more than, say, political beliefs do. As far as I'm concerned, both are open for debate and even ridicule if it's warranted.  I will attack someone's beliefs until the cows come home, but I will never attack that person. I may ridicule the idea that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead, but I will not punch someone in the face or burn down his house for believing it. I may think the idea that Muhammad was a prophet is ludicrous, but I will not discriminate against someone who believes it in the workplace.

Some religious believers find it hard to see the distinction between attacking their beliefs and attacking them as persons, but to me there is all the difference in the world.

So, am I militant in any way about my atheism? Absolutely not. However, I will continue to speak out against what I see as the dangers and idiocies of religion.  At most, that makes me an outspoken atheist.

Another term I've heard used is "evangelical atheist". This is a label that is sometimes even used by fellow-atheists, and I can see where they're coming from. However, the use of the term comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of the word "evangelical".

"Evangelical" in a Christian context means someone who takes the Bible as their source of authority; it comes from the word evangel, or gospel. An evangelical is someone whose focus is on the Bible and the preaching of the Christian gospel. There is simply no equivalent to this in atheism, as we have no holy books and no fundamental beliefs.

The word "evangelical" is often misused to mean "evangelistic", which is perhaps closer to the truth. However, even this term has its problems. I speak out against religion, but I'm not trying to make converts (or, if you prefer, deconverts). In fact, if someone turned away from their religion because of me, I wouldn't be happy about it. Why? Because they would just be substituting me as an alternative authority figure to their priest, pastor, imam or whatever. I don't deserve to be in such an exalted position. No-one does. That's why I don't preach my beliefs on street corners or make impassioned pleas in an atmosphere of heightened emotion and subconscious suggestion for people to raise their hands and accept reason into their hearts. For someone to change his or her beliefs because an authority figure told them to or because he or she is swayed by an eloquent preacher or orator is the very worst thing that could happen, and I will have no part in it. (I frequently did when I was a Christian, to my shame, but no longer.)

If, however, someone chose to abandon religion at the end of a process of thinking things through for themselves because I made them think, I'd be very happy. By profession I'm a teacher, and education is important to me. If I can influence people to use reason, logic and critical thinking rather than accepting the word of their minister or a holy book, then I will have achieved my objective. If that leads to them becoming atheists, so much the better. My aim is to spread critical thinking, not atheism as a faith position. True atheism is not based on faith in any way, not even faith in Richard Dawkins (as some Christians like to claim).

So, am I militant? Definitely not. Am I evangelical? Not since I left Christianity. What I am, and what Christians don't like, is unwilling to sit back while religion basks in undeserved privilege and reverence. I'm an atheist, an outspoken atheist, and I'm proud of that fact. If more atheists would stand up and make their views known then religion would have less influence in our society, which would definitely be a good thing.